Customize the display of fields in a query

Automatically display all fields from a query's underlying table or query

You can display all the fields without adding them to the design grid.

1. Open a query in Design view.
2. Select the query by clicking anywhere in query Design view outside the design grid and the field lists.
3. Click Properties on the toolbar to display the query's property sheet.
4. Set the OutputAllFields property to Yes.

Note  If you want to limit the records that the query returns by specifying criteria, or if you want to create a calculated field or specify a sort order in the design grid, you need to add the fields for these purposes to the design grid. Make sure you clear the Show check box for any of these fields; otherwise, they will display twice in the query's results.

Change the default setting for the OutputAllFields property

This option determines whether the query's results automatically include all the fields from the underlying tables or queries (without adding them to the design grid), or only the fields you add to the design grid.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Tables/Queries tab, and then select or clear the Output All Fields check box.

Note   Changing this option only affects the property setting for new queries you create, not existing queries.

Display a custom field description in a query's status bar

1. Open a query in Design view.
2. Click the field in the design grid whose description you want to change, and then click Properties on the toolbar to display the field's property sheet.
3. In the Description property, type the description you want the status bar to display for that field in the query's results. The maximum length is 255 characters.

Users will see the new description in the status bar when they click in the field in query Datasheet view.